Five new bouts, including Akiyama vs. Belcher, confirmed for UFC 100

Following the announcement of three blockbuster fights for July’s UFC 100 card, the Ultimate Fighting Championship today confirmed five additional bouts for the event, including a main-card contest between UFC newcomer Yoshihiro Akiyama and middleweight veteran Alan Belcher.

UFC 100 takes place July 11 at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas and airs on pay per view.

MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com) previously reported all five of the then-rumored match-ups.

What will likely go down as the biggest card of the year, UFC 100 features two title fights when UFC heavyweight champ Brock Lesnar meets interim title-holder Frank Mir and UFC welterweight champ Georges St. Pierre takes on top contender Thiago Alves. “The Ultimate Fighter 9″ coaches Michael Bisping and Dan Henderson also fight at the show, and as announced on this past Wednesday’s episode of “The Ultimate Fighter,” Stephan Bonnar takes on Mark Coleman.

It’s no surprise Akiyama (12-1 MMA, 0-0 UFC), widely regarded as one of the world’s top 15 middleweights, would earn a televised slot against Belcher (14-5 MMA, 5-3 UFC). Akiyama is now 11-0 (with two no-contests) since July 2005, and his opponent, Belcher, scored an upset and ruined the long-awaited UFC debut of Denis Kang at UFC 93. Belcher is now 4-1 in his past five fights.

Jones (8-0 MMA, 2-0 UFC), meanwhile, has picked up back-to-back decision victories over Andre Gusmao (UFC 87) and Stephan Bonnar (UFC 94) since joining the UFC in 2008. The 21-year-old former JUCO national wrestling champion and exciting stand-up fighter will now meet O’Brien (11-2 MMA, 4-2 UFC), a former heavyweight who made the drop to 205 pounds and defeated Christian Wellisch via split decision in January at UFC 94.

In other action, Kim (11-0-1 MMA, 2-1 UFC) and Goulet (22-10 MMA, 4-4 UFC) meet in a welterweight bout. Kim was last in action in a razor-thin split-decision loss to Karo Parisyan at January’s UFC 94 event. The defeat was the first of the fighter’s five-year career, but the loss was recently overturned (and changed to a no-contest) due to Parisyan’s failed UFC 94 drug test for painkiller usage. Goulet most recently suffered a disappointing 33-second defeat at the hands of Mike Swick in December.

The Dollaway (8-1 MMA, 2-1 UFC) vs. Lawlor (5-1 MMA, 1-0 UFC) bout features two cast members from “The Ultimate Fighter.” Dollaway, the season-seven middleweight runner-up, returns to competition for the first time since December and looks for his third consecutive win. Lawlor, from season eight, is also looking for his third consecutive win. The former light heavyweight scored a unanimous-decision win over Kyle Kingsbury at The Ultimate Fighter 8 Finale in December.